Kevin Love struggled, shooting just 4-for-18 from the field, but Nikola Pekovic picked up the slack. Pekovic scored 31 points on 14-for-18 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Despite Love's tough shooting night, the Timberwolves still shot 54 percent for the game.
Andrei Kirilenko scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds. Love finished with 14 points, Luke Ridnour and Alexey Shved scored 13 each and J.J. Barea scored 10 points off the bench. It was the third straight win for the Timberwolves.
The Hornets were led by rookie Austin Rivers, who scored 22 points. He had 19 of those in the first half. Point guard Greivis Vasquez had 13 points, 15 assists and four rebounds. New Orleans has now lost six straight games.
Nikola Pekovic has scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves jumped out to a 28-23 lead in the first quarter, but the Hornets responded with a good second quarter to tie it before halftime. The Hornets took a 50-48 lead on a basket by Austin Rivers with 32 seconds remaining in the half, but Andrei Kirilenko tied it before the half ended.
Kirilenko has eight points, five rebounds and two assists and Minnesota is shooting 51 percent in the half despite the struggles of star Kevin Love. Love has eight points, but he's made just 2-for-11 shots and he only has one rebound in the half.
Rivers had 19 first half points for the Hornets and Ryan Anderson and Robin Lopez each have eight. Rookie Anthony Davis has scored seven off the bench.
